Teodor Currentzis, MusicAeterna and Patricia Kopatchinskaja Release New Album

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Classical is pleased to announce the new release from conductor Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra and choir MusicAeterna. Testament to their versatility and broad musical command, this album brings together two diverse masterworks from two giants of Russian music – Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto Op. 35 and Stravinsky's Les Noces – and presents their first musical collaboration with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Greek-born but Russian-based, conductor Currentzis has found a kindred maverick spirit in the exceptional Moldovan-Austrian violinist Kopatchinskaja, as is evident in their fresh interpretation of Tchaikovsky's cornerstone of the violin repertory. Known for their instinctive and ground-breaking interpretations across an extensive range of musical eras, Currentzis, Kopatchinskaja and MusicAeterna have performed together several times since this first project and consistently garnered audience and critical acclaim. Spiegel Online recently wrote: "No matter whether it is Mozart or Stravinsky, there is nothing that Teodor Currentzis cannot do at present. And things get even better when the conductor works with the idiosyncratic violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja – together they make a heavenly duo."

The album also presents a rare masterwork from another Russian composer: Stravinsky's Les Noces. Written for solo voices, choir, pianos and percussion, the work celebrates a peasant wedding and was originally written as ballet music in 1917, though in its present form it was not seen on stage until 1923. Currentzis again employs the authentic Russian folkloric influences that were central to his recent interpretation of Le Sacre du printemps and which he considers fundamental to understanding Stravinsky's music. The native Russian-speakers that make up the exceptional MusicAeterna choir also bring another level of understanding and authenticity to this most Russian of Stravinsky's works.

Les Noces reunites Currentzis and MusicAeterna with Belarusian soprano Nadine Koutcher, who was also featured on their 2014 release Rameau – The Sound of Light and was this year crowned BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Based at the Perm Opera House at the foot of the Ural Mountains since 2011, Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra and choir MusicAeterna built on their international renown with the launch in 2014 of their Mozart–Da Ponte opera series. Le nozze di Figarowas followed by Così fan tutte; both were hailed by the international press: "The field of Figaro recordings is crowded, but Currentzis's deserves a special space" (Financial Times); "Truly a benchmark recording" (El Mundo on Figaro); "Wonders keep tumbling out" (The Times on Così fan tutte); "Mozart has never been more erotic. An opera recording that just revels in pain and lust" (Die Zeit on Così fan tutte). The Da Ponte cycle will be completed with the release of Don Giovanni in autumn 2016. In 2014 Sony also released Rameau – The Soundof Light ("Sumptuous fare" – The Independent) and Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps appeared this autumn ("Here finally is a recording that shakes the listener, wherever he may be. It's an amazing, really new recording" (Il Corrieredella Sera).